Gal Haimovich, the Israeli owner of an unspecified international freight company, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate United States sanctions on Russia by facilitating the export of aviation parts via the United Arab Emirates and the Maldives.
The United States Department of Justice alleged that Haimovich arranged for around 160 shipments of sanctioned goods between March 2022 and March 2023. The businessman admitted to deceiving US companies in regard to the true destination of the goods and submitting false documentation to the US authorities. He billed Russian customers at least USD2 million for the sanctions-busting exports.
Goods including parts with potential military use were shipped from the US to transhipment companies in the UAE and the Maldives and then to Russia with Haimovich's full knowledge. Emails cited in the court documents show that he was explicitly instructed by the Russian customers to deceive US companies and authorities in order to "make sure that the actual sender does not know that the cargo is destined for Russia".
The only Russian customer identified by the DOJ by name was S7 Airlines (S7, Novosibirsk).
As part of his plea, Haimovich agreed to the forfeiture of over USD2 million in cash and his stockpile of parts. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 22.
According to his social media profile, Haimovich was the owner and CEO of logistics firm CTi TLV.
